Picture this, you enter a washroom and after you attend the natures call, to your horror, you do not find toilet paper. Now, you are in a fix, you do not know what to do. This is the moment when you realize the importance of a thing as silly as a toilet paper or tissue as we call it. Today, it is almost impossible to imagine a life without toilet paper. Before paper was widely available, a variety of materials were employed. The Romans used an L-shaped stick (like a hockey stick) made of wood or precious metal; at public toilets people used sponges on sticks that were kept in saltwater between uses. In arid climates, sand, powdered brick, or earth was used. Until the late nineteenth century, Muslims were advised to use three stones to clean up. One favourite tool was a mussel shell, used for centuries. Until the early twentieth century, corn cobs were used. In the late fifteenth century, when paper became widely available, it began to replace other traditional materials. Sometimes old correspondence was pressed into service, as were pages from old books, magazines, newspapers, and catalogues. People also used old paper bags, envelopes, and other bits of scrap paper, which were cut into pieces and threaded onto a string that was kept in the privy. Toilet paper is a fairly modern invention, making its debut around 1880 when it was developed by the British Perforated Paper Company. Made of a coarser paper than its modern incarnation, it was sold in boxes of individual squares. In America, the Scott Paper Company made its Waldorf brand toilet paper in rolls as early as 1890. The first rolls were not perforated, and lavatory dispensers had serrated teeth to cut the paper as needed. It was a nearly unmentionable product for years, and consumers were often embarrassed to ask for it by name or even be seen buying it. Timid shoppers simply asked for Two, please, and the clerk presumably knew what they wanted. To keep things discreet, toilet paper was packaged and sold in brown paper wrappers. Emfuleni Tissue: Check out our FB page about the incredible (and funny) history of toilet paper!
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 13:06:43 +0000